Panthers winger Jack Skille probable against Penguins

Nagging ankle sprain sidelined Florida winger

CORAL SPRINGS — As if a seven-game losing streak and a nagging high ankle sprain aren't enough to contend with, Panthers right wing Jack Skille has his mother and two sisters visiting him.

"I've got three women staying with me," said Skille, a bachelor who has a two-bedroom apartment in Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, Skille's father, Lee, is home alone in Wisconsin for the first time in a long time.

"I talked to my dad and he said, 'I've got the fridge full of beer and every toilet seat up,' " Skille said.

Mrs. Skille and her daughters should get to see Jack play Saturday night against Pittsburgh at the BankAtlantic Center. Panthers coach Pete DeBoer said Skille is "probable" for the game depending on how his ankle feels.

"It's a goofy injury," said Skille, who last played March 23 in Chicago against his former team. "It's a lot better, but one day it'll feel good and the next day it's like I can't skate."

Asked to compare the reigning Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks and the struggling Panthers, Skille said confidence was a major difference.

"I think confidence is the biggest part of this game," he said.

"When you're winning, you have confidence. When you're losing, it's easy to get frustrated and it's easy for there to be a snowball effect."

Adding to the frustration is the team's lack of scoring. The Panthers have averaged 1.6 goals per game in their last 23 games.

"That's a tough way to play hockey," DeBoer said. "Your margin of error is not good … and that wears on everybody."

But it can be overcome, as Skille saw in Chicago, which went from missing the playoffs to Cup champions two years later. Dale Tallon built that Cup winner before becoming the Panthers' general manager.

"It all goes back to confidence," Skille said. "We believe in what Dale's going to do and what the organization's going to do. It's not going to be easy. This kind of path is the hardest path to take."